The Israeli army is suffering one of the highest daily death tolls since the invasion of Gaza

The Israeli army on Tuesday suffered one of the highest numbers of casualties in a single day since Israel began its ground invasion of Gaza in late October: Ten soldiers were killed during fighting in the north of the enclave, the army said.

Israeli military radio reported that nine of the soldiers had been killed in heavy fighting in Shajaiye, a Gaza City neighborhood that has been the focus of fighting in recent days as the army pushes to eradicate Hamas fighters from the enclave. The Israeli news media called the episode an ambush.

Most of the casualties on Tuesday were infantry fighters, but they also included a colonel and a lieutenant colonel, the highest-ranking Israeli officers to have been killed since the invasion began, according to the Israeli military.

Although Israel expanded its ground invasion of southern Gaza this month, heavy fighting is ongoing in northern Gaza. Since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, which Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people, 444 Israeli soldiers have been killed, according to the country’s military. About a quarter of these casualties have occurred since Israel began its ground invasion, the military said.

At the same time, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 15,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, have been killed in Israel’s military retaliation campaign. Health officials in Gaza do not distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters in their death tolls.